DESCRIPTIONS:

He is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power. Vajrapāni is extensively represented in Buddhist iconography as one of the earliest three protective deities or bodhisattvas surrounding the Buddha. Each of them symbolizes one of the Buddha's virtues: Manjushri manifests all the Buddhas' wisdom, Avalokiteśvara manifests all the Buddhas' immense compassion, and Vajrapāni protects Buddha and manifests all the Buddha's power as well as the power of all five tathāgatas (Buddhahood of the rank of Buddha). Vajrapani is one of the earliest Dharmapalas of Mahayana Buddhism and also appears as a deity in the Pali Canon of the Theravada school. He is worshiped in the Shaolin Monastery, in Tibetan Buddhism and in Mahayana Buddhism (where he is known as Mahasthamaprapta and forms a triad with Amitābha and Avalokiteśvara). Manifestations of Vajrapāni can also be found in many Buddhist temples in Japan as Dharma protectors called Nio. Vajrapāni is also associated with Acala, who is venerated as Fudō-Myōō in Japan, where he is serenaded as the holder of the vajra.

畫作介紹：

金剛手菩薩是釋迦牟尼佛的保護者和護法，象徵佛陀的力量。他右手持金剛杵之相，象徵「堅固不壞之菩提心」，他是大勢至菩薩化身的忿怒相。金剛手菩薩作為最早圍繞佛陀的三位護神法菩薩之一，在佛教畫像中得到了廣泛的體現。每一種都像徵著佛的一種功德：文殊菩薩顯出諸佛的智慧，觀世音菩薩顯出諸佛的大悲心，金剛手菩薩護持著佛陀，顯現出一切佛的力量和五如來的力量。金剛手菩薩是大乘佛教最早的護法之一，在上座部的巴利經典中也以本尊形象出現。他在藏傳佛教、大乘佛教及日本密宗也備受讚崇。